engines, 115 crew camps, all of that. >> so we've got a ton of work going on as we speak right now. they're going to work all night long. anytime the wind is low like this, our air assault, our air attack has just been incredible. it's been relentless. >> i mean, i we were watching them with this hat because they they are relentless and they haven't stopped. i watched it thursday and friday up around topanga. just unbelievable. the air assets just coming in one after the other after the best at what they do. >> and it's it's amazing to watch. but boy that sure has helped us. and then like the winds pick up big tomorrow. >> that's i mean that's going to be a real that's a concern. that's a real. >> so they do that by looking at the ridge that they're on and they've really taken care of that. but they look a couple ridges ahead and they start pre-painting those with fire retardant. so they're you know, in case those assets can't get up for a little while, they kind of preset themselves up. >> captain sheila kelliher, as always, thank you so much. >> appreciate you for having us. >> if you want to know how you can help, you can check out cnn.com/impact for a number of information on organizations that are doing good work here in the los angeles area that cnn.com/impact. that's it for us. the news

continues here on cnn. >> it's tuesday, january 14th right now on cnn this morning never, never, never, ever give up. >> the verge of an agreement israel and hamas may be making progress in hostage and ceasefire talks. >> officials say a deal could be imminent. plus, breaking overnight, special counsel jack smith's election subversion report detailing what it says is donald trump's, quote, criminal efforts to retain power and the danger has absolutely not passed. bracing for explosive fire growth, dangerous winds picking up overnight in southern california as a new fire sparks. then later, this is a uniquely unqualified, dangerous nominee in the hot seat. trump's pick to lead the pentagon, pete will sit before senators today. does he have enough support

to win confirmation? all right. it is 5 a.m. here on the east coast. a live look at capitol hill on this tuesday morning. good morning everyone. i'm kasie hunt. it's wonderful to have you with us. we are learning more about a potential cease fire and hostage deal emerging between israel and hamas. the first positive signal in months that the war in gaza could soon be over. israeli officials tell cnn that hamas is expected to release 33 hostages under the final phase of a framework deal that's being negotiated right now. this would happen during a 42 day cease fire. israel says hamas still has 94 of the more than 250 hostages taken in october of 2023. >> we're pressing hard to close this. >> the deal we have a structure would free the hostages, halt the fighting, provide security to israel and allow us to

significantly surge humanitarian assistance to the palestinians who have suffered terribly in this war that hamas started. >> also pressing hard to close this is president-elect donald trump, who wants a deal finalized before he takes office less than a week from now. >> we are very close to getting it done and they have to get it done. if they don't get it done, there's going to be a lot of trouble out there, a lot of trouble like they have never seen before. >> a diplomat close to the negotiations tells cnn that mediators, mediators are meeting today with the goal of finalizing critical details. >> it's really down to the brass tacks, but as we've seen in the past, when you get down to that level of detail, you know you're close and you know the gaps can be closed. >> but that's when it gets really, really hard. that's when the negotiations become a little tougher. so there's optimism, but it's cautious optimism. casey, again, we've been here before and we know

that it's not done until it's all done. >> that was about 12 hours ago here on this network. john kirby told me that. and joining us now to talk about all of this is joel rubin, former deputy assistant secretary of state during the obama administration. joel, good morning. good to see you, casey. so how close are we? >> i think we're very close. >> i think that the signals now coming out from the region are sincere. the qataris now, the egyptians today as well, engaged. and of course, our diplomats saying that this is this is the deal that looks like it's going to be accepted. of course, we're still waiting for hamas to decide officially. the israeli leadership looks like they're willing to take the negativity from the far right. that means netanyahu is willing to push it through and maintain his government. that's at least what i'm hearing. i was at the state department yesterday for the president's speech, and that's sort of the chatter that netanyahu may be able to get this through, lose some of his coalition allies in the vote, but not fall, not collapse his government. >> so i'm tempted to use a word that's probably too

impolite for 5 a.m., but let's let's put it this way. what is giving netanyahu the guts to go against his right wing at this moment when he hasn't been so far? >> you know, there's a confluence of pressures happening right now. certainly what we're talking about with the region and of course, with president-elect trump also mirroring president biden. actually, i want to mention this, i think is very important. this might be the only part of the trump transition where there's legitimate coordination between the trump team and the biden team on a core policy issue, and there's no daylight between them. and so i think for the prime minister, he sees that. he understands that it's going to have to be the deal is going to have to be closed. but the big x factor in this is the efficacy of the hostage families that we have to remember that those individuals, those families have been advocating for well over a year, not just to the biden team, but of course, across capitol hill and been meeting with the trump transition team. and i think that's really why we see now the pressure coming to a head. >> let's take a look. actually, since you mentioned the trump team, this was secretary of state blinken who

was talking. he did an interview talking about how they were working with trump. watch steve witkoff has been a terrific partner in this. >> and also president elect trump, in making clear that he wants to see this deal go forward and go forward before january 20th. and, of course, everyone wants to know. and it's very useful as well to have steve a part of this. they want to make sure that the deal that the president's put on the table and that we've negotiated, the trump administration will continue to back. >> it's kind of unusual or interesting, anyway, that this trump envoy, steve witkoff, has been a part of these conversations here at the very end. >> yeah, it really is unusual. you know, as discussed, it also, of course, is unique in this transition, but i think it's a positive sign because it means that there's going to be continuity, not just of the people, but also of the policy, and that the information is being shared directly in real time. transitions are very hard, and i've been through them. and what you want to make sure is that information continues from one team to

another. it's not clear that's happening across the government, but in this case it is. and i think we have to give hats off credit to president biden and his team as well. they've been working this time and again with our allies in the region. we have seen hamas sponsors like hezbollah and iran in particular push back. and so they have been relentless in pursuing a diplomatic endgame that all the sides can agree to. hopefully, hamas signs up to this one that we see some relief for the palestinians in gaza, that we get these hostages out. and then with the trump leadership, that they continue on this policy, on this path. >> briefly, this is, of course, a temporary cease fire. at least that's how we understand it right now. how likely is it do you think that can become a permanent one? >> hopefully they build it builds the confidence. these look cease fires are never fully permanent in the middle east. i hate to sound so cynical about it, but we're seeing the one in lebanon, for example. there's temporary, but now it's growing into a more longer term solidified one because we've seen steps taken during this temporary period that build the confidence.

hopefully the same dynamic can occur in gaza. >> all right, joel rubin, great to start off with you today. thanks so much for being here. all right. coming up here on cnn this morning, final report released. why special counsel jack smith believes he would have gotten a conviction if his election subversion case against donald trump had gone to trial. plus, a political battle brewing. why house speaker mike johnson says disaster aid to california should come with conditions. and a rare, rare warning in southern california, wind gusts up to 70mph expected today. there's a new fire erupts overnight. this is the only neighborhood i've ever known. my whole life. i've been here for 56 years. a mile apart from my sisters and my parents. it's surreal for sure. >> i've got good news and i've got bad news. what do you want first? >> the bad. the news is newsom even more than ever. >> what's the good news? >> we're doing another season of have i got news for you. >> have i got news for you?

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>> lumify it's kind of amazing. >> see for yourself. i'm erin burnett in los angeles and this is cnn all right. >> breaking overnight, the justice department publicly releasing special counsel jack smith's final report on donald trump's effort to overturn the 2020 election. it's 130 pages long, and it does contain a lot of what we already know. but it outlines what special counsel jack smith calls trump's criminal efforts to retain power. that included putting pressure on state officials. the fraudulent electors plan, and his pressure on the vice president. leading up to january 6th, 2021, when trump's supporters stormed the capitol. smith's conclusion of the report if donald trump hadn't been reelected, he believes that he had sufficient evidence against him to get a conviction at trial. trump, responding to the report overnight, blasting smith, writing in part, quote, jack is a lame brained prosecutor who was unable to get his case tried before the election,

which i won in a landslide. the voters have spoken. this is, of course, the latest in a long line of attacks that the president elect has lobbed against smith. >> deranged jack smith. he's a deranged individual. they brought this moron out of the hague. his picture was perfect because you look at his picture, you say that's a bad guy with his robe, his purple robe. we had a brilliant judge in florida that saw right through it. why should he be allowed to write a fake report? it'll only be a fake report. >> all right. joining us now to discuss kevin fry, washington correspondent for spectrum news new york. one. kevin, good morning. nice to see you. so my read of this is yes. this report contains a lot of information that we have learned through other places, whether it was what they released as they were, you know, trying the case in october, whether it was from the january 6th report. but what this does amount to is a pretty sweeping defense of jack smith's decisions to charge the former president and to lay out to people what he believed

he had that ultimately would have absent trump. winning the election resulted in a conviction. >> yeah, his belief spelled out in this document that he believes he could have actually secured a win in court. >> notably, he is very blunt about the allegation that trump has lobbed repeatedly, which is that this was all part of the the biden white house syndicate, that this was the white house was dictating this from day one, calling it outright laughable was his words that that that was what had happened here. at the end of the day, though, as you mentioned, a lot of this information was already out there. it was in the bloodstream. and so to some extent, what trump said in his post overnight that the voters have spoken is pretty darn true. i mean, this is what the voters elected. and these facts are not necessarily clearly changing the minds of many americans. >> kevin, one of the things that was included with this report, there was a letter that jack smith wrote to the attorney general to kind of to go along with the report. it's

dated january 7th. and of course, we know. then jack smith separated from the justice department. one of the things he says in the letter is that trump claims, quote, dismissal of his criminal cases signifies mr. trump's complete exoneration. and then jack smith says that is false. he wants to be very clear that this does not mean that trump has been exonerated. why do you think he felt the need to put that in there? >> i mean, that has been kind of the central theme of trump's response to the fact that this has not gone to trial and has not gone through the processes of whether or not he would be convicted that this is ultimately a win for him. it's the same that we've seen in some of the other cases, including up in new york, where he suggested he was more or less exonerated because he didn't end up getting any sort of real penalty in that new york city case because of the fact that, again, he is about to be president elect of the united states. so trying to essentially rebut, one can imagine jack smith to kind of one frame his legacy in doing this investigation to show that there was substance there, and

also to prebuttal anything that trump is going to say over the next four years to suggest that he is above, above barr and has done nothing wrong. >> kevin, let me talk to you briefly about the other big political story we're following today. and that is, of course, the confirmation hearing for pete hegseth to be defense secretary. and i want to show you the person that i'm watching today most closely is senator joni ernst, who sits on this committee. she was really under a lot of pressure earlier. i guess it was late last year, as there were some questions about whether the nomination would go forward. let's look at how she talked about she had a meeting with hegseth. we have some comments that she made before the meeting and then after. let's watch that. >> i am a survivor of sexual assault, so i've worked very heavily on sexual assault measures within the military. so i'd like to hear a little more about that. i'm excited to have the opportunity to sit down with him again, but there will be a very thorough vetting

before he moves forward. he is very supportive of women in the military. it is one thing that we've discussed. >> what's your sense of what might play out today and what are you watching? >> well, i mean, i completely agree with you. she's the one to keep an eye on because, quite frankly, she can make his nomination sink or swim because of the makeup of this panel to begin with. there's basically a one seat majority for the republicans. so if she decides because she's left wiggle room there, if she decides that, you know what, he doesn't meet the moment, then she could sink it right out the gate before we even get to the full senate for confirmation. i am curious to see how she navigates a lot of her questioning, and exactly what how he plays this. he's obviously a person who knows how to do television. having been on fox news for so long. so does he do the play to the audience at mar-a-lago and try to be very, you know, bombastic and very forthright and trying to take on some of these democrats who are seemingly very much prepared to ask him a slew of questions. or does he try to be a little more

recalcitrant and maybe apologetic about some of his past, to show that he's a changed individual, which maybe would appeal to more to the to senator ernst or some of the other. republican moderates, for example. um, murkowski that need to get on board with this nomination if he wants to succeed on the floor. >> fair enough. all right. kevin frye for us today, a busy day in washington. thanks for starting it off with us. we appreciate it. all right. do join cnn as the candidates for president-elect trump's cabinet face the senate in public hearings. who will get the votes to be confirmed? we're going to have special live coverage of the trump confirmation hearings. it begins today. i'll be joining dana bash starting at noon. don't miss it. straight ahead here on cnn this morning, dangerous fire conditions in southern california as a new fire breaks out in an area under the highest fire threat. plus, with less than a week left in office, how americans view president biden's time in the white house. new polling just released.

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>> please adhere to any evacuation warnings and orders immediately. >> the danger remains. a possible new fire outbreak, and it could also undo any progress firefighters have made against the palisades fire and eaton fire parts of los angeles and ventura counties are what's under that. what's called a particularly dangerous situation. red flag warning until late wednesday. >> there is a concern if we see winds like we saw at the beginning of this fire, there could be problems. >> so we're going to not let our guard down. >> we're going to keep mopping up this fire, keep surging crews into problem areas, and make sure that doesn't happen. >> all right. joining us now from los angeles, meteorologist ariel cohen from the national weather service. sir very grateful to have you on the show this morning. what have you seen so far overnight? there is, of course, this new fire that's erupted. and what do you expect today? >> our team is closely monitoring a corridor of strong santa ana winds gusting over

60mph, extending from the san gabriel mountains of central los angeles county westward into ventura county, central southern parts of ventura county, and into western and central los angeles county, and into the western santa monica are all under that particularly dangerous situation. red flag warning or red flag warning? this area is going to experience, on and off, damaging winds upwards of 70mph. that will be bringing about the potential for explosive fire growth overnight. last night, we've seen the development of the fire in the ventura area. while forward motion of this particular fire has been limited, other fires that are ongoing or could break out have the potential to grow rapidly and explosively, given the very strong winds. we're expecting these particularly dangerous situation conditions continue all the way through tomorrow, midday, potentially into the afternoon hours. so everyone has to remain at a very high

state of readiness, be ready to evacuate immediately if evacuation orders are issued for your. location. >> ariel, can you talk a little bit about the the direction of the winds? because i know that was of some concern, kind of the way they were going to blow, potentially made this risk higher. >> what's happened here is that the winds have shifted more from the northeasterly to more of an east northeasterly direction. what that's done is it's also expanded this particularly dangerous situation threat area westward into central and southern turek county. so while it's maintained across portions of central and western los angeles county, the area has expanded into ventura county. what that means is that more areas are going to be susceptible to these very volatile conditions, favoring the development of very large fires and explosive fire growth, and

everyone across the affected areas, not only in the pbs area, but all across the red flag warning areas. they need to be ready. you need to be prepared, have multiple ways to receive emergency alert information from emergency management, law enforcement and when those evacuation orders are issued, seconds mean the difference between life and death. you must follow those evacuation orders. take them seriously. >> all right. ariel cohen, very grateful for your time this morning, sir. hopefully people will be heeding those warnings. thanks very much. >> thank you for having me. >> all right. ahead here on cnn this morning, the biden administration and trump transition team working in tandem. their goal, a ceasefire deal between israel and hamas. and this morning, an agreement reportedly closer than ever. plus playing politics, will the blame game get in the way of helping people in southern california? >> these imbeciles in office and they continue to do it. they don't deserve anything, to

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latest round of criticism targeting leadership in california. republicans have questioned the state's preparedness and response to the deadly wildfires that have ravaged l.a. and the surrounding area. johnson says there were issues with resource management and wants oversight of any federal funding. >> it appears to us that state and local leaders were derelict in their duty and in many respects. so that's something that has to be factored in. i think there should probably be conditions on that aid. that's my personal view. >> we'll see what the consensus is. >> cnn's senior political analyst ron brownstein joins us live now from los angeles. ron, good morning to you. i we obviously are always here talking about national politics, typically. but can you kind of read us into how this has affected you? you've been someone who's covered this region of the world for many, many years. and sort of your reflections on the emerging, very complicated, very acrimonious, already political dynamics. >> yeah, i mean, obviously our

hearts, we have friends, you know, have lost everything and everyone in l.a. knows someone who has lost everything. i mean, this this will be one of the most damaging natural disasters in the history of the country, certainly in the history of california and los angeles. and, you know, there there is lots to critique about the way the city and state have dealt with all the manifestations of this, of this disaster. what's harder to do? casey, i think, is make a plausible case that even if things had been done differently, that the outcome would have been much less horrific. i mean, you know, municipal water systems, municipal fire departments are not built to deal with conditions. this severe fires, this extreme. and to me, it's an encapsulation of the reality that no matter how fast we try to adapt to the new threats that are unleashed by climate change,

you know, climate change kind of leapfrogs over us, leapfrogs past us. it's not like the state and the city have done nothing in recent years to strengthen building codes or to increase its overall firefighting capacity. but, you know, when you have what someone described to me yesterday as a horror fire, a hurricane fire. it just it was just overwhelmed, you know, on the narrow politics, very, you know, again, it might not have been different otherwise, but i think it is very difficult for the mayor can be very difficult for the mayor to overcome not being here when this broke out. we're about to re inaugurate donald trump four years after january 6th. so you never say never. but this, i think, is going to be a very difficult situation for her to overcome if she does, in fact seek a second term in 2026. >> one of the things that, you know, i've noticed, at least from our vantage point here in the national media, is her relatively reduced visibility compared to the governor of

california, gavin newsom. how would you compare how those two, both democrats, obviously, those two leaders are handling this situation, you know. >> well, look, i mean, you know, bass bass situation in terms of visibility is kind of shadowed by the fact that the first question is always, where were you? you know, why did you go when the warning. i you know, the warnings were issued after the warnings were issued. and newsom really has been, you know, extremely visible and extremely sharp. i mean, in terms of his comments at times, you know, questioning city officials, certainly pushing back on the state, the critics at the national level, or republicans from out of state. i mean, you know, the the idea that, like in the water choices of the state have really affected this or that. dei policies at the fire department, you know, have really materially changed the outcome here. you know, what we are talking about, i think, is fundamentally how the threats

are leapfrogging our ability to respond to them. and ultimately, you know, whether we're talking about fire or the response to fires or the insurance markets that are facing enormous pressure, we we are in a race that we are losing. i mean, ultimately, we have to find ways to tamp down the risk itself. and that involves dealing with the changes in the climate. and that is something that is emphatically off the table. and you kind of get the feeling that some of the republicans in congress want to talk about anything but that, yes, you can criticize, as i said, individual elements of what the response has been. and those are legitimate questions to have. and we are inevitably going to be reforming a whole bunch of things in california on a whole bunch of fronts. but i feel like there's no guarantee that those changes will, you know, fully immunize us from the future threats any more than the changes we've made over the last 15 years, solve what we saw emerge this time. >> ron, one of the dynamics here, too, and i feel like i've watched this evolve with our

politics in the trump era around disaster relief. this idea of conditioning disaster aid is something that is relatively new in our modern era. typically, this has been something where everyone seems to recognize that the tornado or the hurricane or the fire could hit my state next. so if your state is in trouble, i'm going to help you now so that you'll help me later on. now there's already conversations about trying to tie the debt ceiling to california disaster aid. i mean, what are what does that say about where we are? and is that the right way to go about all of this? >> well, look, i mean, what i often said during trump's first term was that he governed as a wartime president with blue america rather than any foreign adversary. as, you know, as kind of the opponent. and, you know, you have i mean, you know, i don't think i believe i'm not the expert on this. i believe there have been times when there have been conditions attached to disaster relief after katrina, for example. but it is much more the exception. i mean, you not you do not hear these republican members of

congress demanding changes in florida after hurricanes. and, you know, the broader point, you know, donald trump won the popular vote this time. he didn't win. he didn't win a majority, but he won a plurality. and the question of whether he would try to govern in a more inclusive way, as opposed to kind of pitting, you know, presenting part of america as the foil for his arguments. this doesn't really offer a very promising start on that. i mean, this this is very much out of the first term playbook of essentially using blue america less courting blue america than targeting blue america as a way of mobilizing his base. i mean, we may see something similar on mass deportation as that gets going and the kind of conflicts that will bring with blue states and cities. but, you know, this is pretty much this is pretty much term one. i think behavior and one that's kind of disappointing given the opportunity that the election gave him to kind of, you know, hold a broader view of who he's representing.

>> sharp way to think about it, ron brownstein, that's why we have you. thank you very much for being here. really appreciate your time. see you soon. >> yeah. thanks for having me. and really, you know, just thinking about everybody out there who is suffering unimaginably today. our neighbors and friends. >> yeah. no, of course. and thank you for ending on that. we are we are thinking about them here as well. thanks, ron. all right. coming up next here on cnn this morning, a deal reportedly imminent, how the outgoing biden and incoming trump administrations are working together to secure a ceasefire agreement in gaza. plus, an emotional win. the los angeles rams, paying tribute to their hometown, giving their fans a reason to smile. >> i mean, we knew what we were playing for today. >> you know, it was it was go get this win. but man, it was for the people of los angeles struggling right now super man, the christopher reeve story. >> february 2nd on cnn. >> what do you got there, larry? time machine. you're going to go back and see how the pyramids were built or something? nope.

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mesothelioma, we'll send you a free book to answer questions you may have. >> call now and we'll come to you. >> 808 two one 4000. >> steve witkoff has been a terrific partner in this. and also president elect trump, in making clear that he wants to see this deal go forward and go forward before january 20th. this has been a very good partnership, and we hope that together we get this over the goal line. >> the outgoing biden administration and incoming trump administration working together to create the framework for a potential hostage release deal between israel and hamas. israeli officials say that under the emerging deal, hamas is expected to release 33 hostages during an initial 42 day ceasefire. the remains of those who have died are expected to be handed over as well. the breakthrough coming as president biden prepares to leave office next week, his team having spent months searching for a resolution to the middle east crisis that has

loomed over his presidency. biden's national security spokesman telling me this yesterday about how the president's legacy factors into this moment. how does getting this deal here, in his final days in office? what does that mean to him, and how does it fit into his legacy as a world leader? >> he's not thinking about his legacy, not when it comes to this. he's thinking about those hostages and those families and getting them reunited. he's thinking about increasing and a terrific surge of humanitarian assistance in to the palestinian people who are so desperately in need of it. and they're also in need of peace and security on both, you know, both in israel and in gaza. >> all right. joining us now, cnn political and national security analyst david sanger. also, the white house national security correspondent for the new york times. david, i saw you also about 12 hours ago on that same program where i spoke with mr. kirby, with admiral kirby. thanks very much for being up early with us as well. what do you make of where we are, where this deal is, how

far, how close we are to the line, and what is your understanding of the dynamics between the incoming and outgoing administrations and the role that the pressure trump is putting on this is playing here. >> well, first, i think we we are close, casey, but we've been close before, as described to me by everybody who's involved. >> never quite this close because at this point, some of the big issues, including keeping israeli troops for some period of time in gaza, seem to have been resolved. there's some question about how many hostages are still alive. and thus, if you got 33, as you heard, i've heard 34 hostages out, would that be two thirds of those who are still alive? would that be only half? so that's going to be one of the one of the big questions of the next 24 hours. but this dynamic that you

described, in which the trump and biden administrations are working together on this, i mean, how many times have you heard those words ever described about anything? right? uh, yeah. yet here we've heard this from both secretary blinken yesterday. and when i was down in palm beach last week at the mar-a-lago press conference, uh, we chatted for a bit with steve witkoff, who's the president's, uh, mideast envoy. he was headed back to doha, and he said the same thing. he said he sort of just been locked up with brett mcgurk, who, of course, has served both democrats and republicans, but is president biden's lead negotiator because they understand that the deadlines that are coming together here will fall into the trump administration. >> so how likely do you think it is that this occurs before january 20th? and, you know, i guess i should say, i my

question to donald trump has said they'll be hell to pay, right? if this isn't done before january 20th. there's obviously been a focus on hamas or there'll be hell to pay for hamas. but it seems like benjamin netanyahu also feels a different set of pressures with trump coming in than he did with biden in the oval office. >> no, i think that's right. i mean, i was there when the president issued his threat. it was full of bluster about hell to pay. but the fact of the matter is, um, i'm not sure that the israeli government held back much on their attacks on hamas when president biden was there. so it's not as if there's something direct for donald trump to unleash here, other than telling the israelis, go do what you need to do. it's not in the israeli's interest right now to go do that, because it could result in the deaths of hostages just at the moment that they're on the cusp of

freedom. so, you know, i think this was more rhetorical that said, i think that it's going to be a bit of a management problem for prime minister netanyahu to be dealing with president trump, not necessarily on this, which i think kill trump will allow him to do what he wants to do. but on the question of whether or not they go after iran's nuclear program, very interesting. >> all right. david sanger, i want to have you back to talk some more about this recent story that you have about the exploding consumer devices that the russians are putting on airplanes, because i found it alarming and fascinating, but unfortunately, we're out of time right now. so let's have that discussion anytime you want next time. all right. david sanger, thank you very much. i really appreciate it. all right. time now for sports. the rams roll to an emotional victory in their playoff game against the vikings. this was moved to arizona because of those wildfires that have swept across southern california. coy wire has this morning cnn's sports update. i have to say i'm really glad the rams

pulled this out. >> yes, man. >> what those players, you could tell they really were playing in passion and with purpose for the first time in league history. casey. the natural disaster forced a postseason game to be moved to a neutral site. the nfl and the rams are working to relocate this playoff game amid the catastrophic events. the rams arranging busses, some rented by rams quarterback matthew stafford's wife kelly, to take fans to the cardinals stadium in glendale, arizona. commissioner roger goodell said if they played at home in inglewood, california, it could sap resources from responders. players wore custom l.a. fire department hats and shirts, and fans were seen holding up signs showing support for all those folks struggling back home. a moment of silence was held for the victims of the wildfire. former rams captain andrew whitworth, sharing an impassioned message for all the people back in l.a. >> we are strong. we will not be defined by this devastation.

we will rebuild. l.a. hand in hand together for as long as it takes. and whatever it takes, we will build it together. los angeles, i love you. we love you, and we are with you. >> all right. despite all the sorrow and uncertainty, casey, the rams maintaining focus and putting on a dominant performance on the field. the defense sacking minnesota quarterback sam darnold and nfl playoff record tying nine times. one of the biggest plays right here. second quarter linebacker jared verse somersaulting into the end zone after he took a loose ball 57 yards for the touchdown. minutes later l.a. playing inspired and to inspire stafford throwing his second touchdown pass of the game. stafford spoke about the team's motivation after the 27 to 9 win. >> i mean, we knew what we were playing for today. you know, it was it was go get this win. but man, it was for the people of

los angeles struggling right now. it's been unbelievable to watch the the whole community. you know, the state the country kind of get behind them. it's a tough time to be back there. and we're just happy that we came out and played like this tonight to get, you know, something to be happy about. >> now both of l.a .'s nba teams were able to play at home last night after having games postponed due to the wildfires. clippers players wearing l.a. strong shirts before their game in inglewood. l.a. native james harden scoring 21 of his 26 points in the second half to beat the heat. about ten miles down the road, the lakers lost to victor wembanyama and the spurs 126 102. but in a touching moment after the game, wemby and his teammate chris paul giving their jerseys to l.a. coach jj reddick's two sons, knox and kai, who lost their home in the wildfires. the simple act of kindness goes a long way in the healing process. >> it's our job to go give strength and give hope and give joy and sports are a lot of things, and sports can certainly provide an escape and

a distraction. and hopefully sports and tonight can provide some joy as well. >> now the nfl and several of their teams donating millions of dollars to help those suffering in l.a. and as jj redick said it, they're quite well. sports can bring hope and inspire. and that's i think, the thing to focus on with these games happening amidst all the tragedy. >> yeah. and that's something, of course that you know well kawhi. so thank you very much for that. really appreciate it. all right. in our next hour here on cnn this morning in just a few hours confirmation hearings set to begin for donald trump's cabinet, the senior advisor for donald trump's presidential transition, jason miller, will be here to discuss. plus, breaking overnight, jack smith's report on donald trump's election subversion case released. why he believes he had enough evidence to get a conviction. >> trump's cabinet picks the candidates you've heard about for months. go before the

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now that's big. mover that soothes pain and naturally promotes healthy circulation. call now. >> i'm natasha bertrand at the pentagon, and this is cnn. >> it's tuesday, january 14th. right now on cnn this morning, breaking overnight, special counsel jack smith's report released to the public. smith says he had sufficient evidence to convict donald trump and. >> pressing hard to close this deal on the doorstep. >> hostage and cease fire talks between israel and hamas inch closer to the finish line this morning. plus. >> unfortunately, mr. hegseth background is deeply troubling in the spotlight. >> president elect trump's pick to lead the pentagon faces his first day of confirmation hearings. we'll discuss live with trump-vance transition senior adviser